Virtually Yours

On Monday mornings,my best friend and local host logs on to itadkaa.com to shop for her weekly Indian groceries and spices (basmati costs as much here as in India if you order a large amount). And if I don’t want to brave the trek to the hyper touristy Oxford Street’s Topshop to check the new collection,I can look at their site at home to see whether I should make the trip or give it a skip. (This is a lie,I never skip Topshop or the nearby cafe,Joe & the Juice on Regent Street,for its swishy crowd and dishy servers.)

I also reserved a table at the just-opened Bar Boulud,the Lyon-style New York-honed French bistro at the Mandarin Oriental just across Harvey Nichols,by checking online. Never mind they took an hour to bring us our meal and forgot the mushrooms in my linguine.

India may claim to be an IT behemoth but it’s still many clicks away from this lifestyle. I can count on my fingers the number of people I know who order books and music from Amazon. To count those who use the superfabulous Netaporter,I only need one hand. And I’ve just checked a few designers’ websites but none of them has a shop-online option.

The delights of online shopping are too many to ignore. For the semi-misanthropes like me,you don’t have to deal with other people. While I did shop-out Topshop,it did seem to me more like a teenage nightclub with its pounding music and gum-chewing,mini-skirted crowd,than a really cool place for throwaway fashion.

From home,there are no stinking trial rooms,no panic buys at closing time,no shop assistants chasing their commissions (or worse,simply following you around as if you were a shoplifter). There’s no need to find a friend to go along with you. There’s no dealing with traffic and no need to find a parking spot so your carbon footprint relieves you of a little consumer’s guilt.

Besides,the atmosphere of a shop only compels you to buy something. At home,you can make your purchase,if any,without anyone looking. Or counting—a click of a mouse is much quicker than a swipe of your credit card; it also doesn’t let you feel like you are spending real money. Interestingly,Which?,a British consumer report,states shopping from home is 17 per cent cheaper on an average. Which basically means there’s more money for more things.

Even though these days being literate means being computer literate,there are many of our society swans who wouldn’t dream of shopping via a computer. I know a sorry lady who makes her husband type her (too few) emails. And another sorrier one makes her husband’s secretary do the dirty work. No wonder none of them is on Facebook. And Twitter is something they don’t need a gadget to indulge in.

namratanow@gmail.com